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Accidental Game-Changing Moments (Screenshots)

Last week I asked friends, readers, and fellow gamers on Steam to send me some of their most profound screenshots– moments that added depth to the game not because it was scripted to be deep, but because of the chaotic nature and subtlety of our most nascent mass-media art form. Here are some of the results.

Joe the Revelator – Fallout 4 (Featured Image)

This all got started when I took a screencap of Nick Valentine from Fallout 4. We had just returned to Spectacle Island from a mission where we confronted a past enemy of his. After, he confesses internal strife about his nature. Does he have a personality of his own? Is he just a flawed copy of some old pulp detective– someone else’s individuality? Then I saw him standing on the hillside, surrounded by sunlight, staring at his own robotic hand– an approximation of something so undeniably human, with all the fake flesh decayed away down to bare metal and wires. I was blown away by the coincidence of his random idle animations.

aTeon – Steam – Skyrim for PC

After I installed the immersive armors mod I noticed my wagoneer outside the manor was naked. I gave him a set of glass armor so I wouldn’t see naked dude all the time. Then I warp in, and he’s staring at me like; “Gonna fuck your day up.” After that I built up a mythology about him in my mind.

LordLub (Dan) – Skyrim

I got this on google, but I swear to god this happened to me. It must have been a problem with actor collision or something. I thought I was the stealth master, until this happened.

Brice – American McGee’s Alice

The Walrus and the carpenter sent me on a fetch quest to retrieve the wayward actresses of a play he was putting on for the local folks. When I returned to the town he had murdered everyone and eaten the actresses of the show…

Nick – Dragon Age: Inquisition – Co-Op

The pic I sent you is of a Krogan head from Mass Effect. I know it was EA being silly. Instead, I decided all the games happen in the same universe, and Krogans had been to earth before. Or the tavern owner where you find the Krogan head was a world-traveling wizard. That’s like looking at the wall at TGI Friday’s and realizing aliens actually exist.

Thanks to everyone who participated. Also, sorry to the person who emailed me the Dishonored screenshot description, there was no image attachment. If you want to send it again with the picture I’ll include it in a redux or part 2.